Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs Tennessee Tech
December 22, 2012 | Cowboy Basketball
Dec. 22, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State vs Tennessee Tech
Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012
OSU head coach Travis Ford
On the team's defensive performance
"I was very happy with the way we played today. The defense has been consistent, and that's what we've been hanging our hat on. That's what we practiced on most of the time. Our guys have embraced it to this point. I told them that we've done well to this point, but the warm-up is over. We've gotten off to great start, but it's not how you start. It's how you finish. I really couldn't have asked for anymore, defensively, in our first 11 games. You go back to Virginia Tech, and they scored 81. Our defense was actually very good in that game. It was our rebounding that hurt us. Consistently, our guys have enjoyed playing defense. They understand that you win conference championships with defense and rebounding. It's fun watching them. I think that they're starting to enjoy it a little bit more."
On stopping Tennessee Tech senior guard Jud Dillard
"You have to give credit where credit is due. He's really good. He made some tough shots. We made an adjustment at halftime to start blitzing him off of ball screens, something we weren't doing. We just wanted to try to take the ball out of his hands as much as possible, and I thought we did a very good job of that and made him take even tougher shots. He made some tough shots, he got fouled, he went to the foul line. I have to give him credit. Sometimes good offense will beat good defense."
On the performance of Kamari Murphy, Kirby Gardner and Phil Forte
"I'm really happy. I didn't think that Kamari Murphy played very well last game, but he really responded to the things that we talked to him about. Kirby Gardner seems to get better and better. Phil Forte, I never worry about. He makes those shots any day. He may not make them every time, but he can get hot at any time. Those three guys are all new guys. I was very pleased with how everybody played today. We were very unselfish. I loved the intensity that we played with. We realy went at the other team."
On Gonzaga
"They've played quite a few of the Big 12 teams, so we'll get a good feel watching tape. I haven't started watching them yet. They're extremely talented. Everybody knows Gonzaga's tradition, and they're all saying that this might be the best team that's ever been there. They're big, they're physical. They've got a lot of depth. They've got a little bit of everything. We're going to need this place packed. It should be a good battle between two top 25 teams."
OSU freshman guard Phil Forte
On his performance
"My teammates do a great job of trying to find me when I'm open. They've got a lot of belief in me, so it's easy to shoot when you have teammates that really trust you."
On offensive improvement
"Coach has been emphasizing (that) all week. We've been a little up and down offensively. We've had good moments and bad moments. We just wanted to try to eliminate the up and down. We ran our offense really well and consistently throughout the game. I think that showed tonight. We were really unselfish with the ball to hit the open man."
On defense
"We're really big on defense. We know that's something that is a strength of ours. Going into every game, we try to take away what the other team does because there will be nights when offensively, shots won't be falling, but your defense will always be there for you."
On Gonzaga
"Obviously, we know it's a big game. They're a top-15 ranked team in the country. Everyone knows what they do every year. They're one of the top programs in the nation. We have them coming into our place on New Year's Eve, and we've got our work cut out for us."
OSU junior guard Kirby Gardner
On his performance
"I feel like I'm catching up to the team, and I'm trying to gain chemistry with them as the days go by."
On Gonzaga
"We're excited going into it. We're going to work hard in practice and try to motivate our teammates to practice hard all week. It's going to be a great motivation because they're a good team, and we need to be ready."
TTU head coach Steve Payne
On the game
“They just played well. We had a hard time dealing with their size and Marcus Smart just dominates the game. They took us out of everything we wanted to do with their physicality.”
